Michael Sam's BF Was Dressed As a Rabbit and Throwing Up When They Met

By: Ross von Metzke

7.11.2014

It was the kiss heard round the world when defensive end Michael Sam planted one on boyfriend Vito Cammasano on live television after learning he’d been drafted by the St. Louis Rams.

But the NFL star tells Out Magazine that it wasn’t love at first sight for the two: “We didn’t start off as huge fans of each other.”

Sam says he and Cammasano first met while they were students at the University of Missouri. He and the star of the swim team were at a lingerie party where Cammasano was dressed as a rabbit and throwing up.

“I went up to him to ask if he was OK, and he started cursing at me, screaming, ‘Fuck off — do you know who I am?,” Sam recalls. “I told him I didn’t care who he was. We didn’t speak again for two years.”

When they met up again, Sam says he could tell Cammasano was into him. “I bought him a couple of drinks, got us tipsy. Toward the end of the night, I put my arm around him, and it was over.”

Sam recalls the early days of their relationship were difficult because he wasn’t out.“Everyone knew Vito was gay, so we couldn’t even be seen together. There was a lot of climbing out of windows. Vito was really the person who showed me I had to [come out]. I wanted us to be comfortable.”